1. Technical Field
This device relates to lifting jacks and levers for powered lawn mowing equipment that lifts one end of the equipment up for servicing and cleaning.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior art devices of this type address the problem of servicing and cleaning self-propelled riding type lawn mowers or lawn tractors. This type of lawn mowing equipment is quite heavy and cannot be easily lifted which is often required in the servicing of the associated power mowing decks for cleaning, blade replacement or sharpening.
Heretofore it was necessary to manually lift the front end of the mower or tractor up onto temporary service blocks to provide sufficient clearance for access under the mowing deck of the equipment. A number of prior art lifting stands have been developed in an attempt to address this problem, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,463,305, 2,744,762, 4,113,235, 5,000,423, 5,678,804 and 5,713,557.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,463,305 a tractor jack is disclosed having an axle engagement stand which uses the hydraulic power unit of the tractor to engage and lift itself by the back wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,744,762 is directed to a hand operated lifting device similar to a conventional hand dolly having a pair of wheels, a handle frame extending from an axle and a pair of bi-laterally extending lifting forks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,235 is a lever action lift jack for motorcycles having a transverse support bar with tubular handles extending for lifting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,423 shows a small vehicle lift having a self-supporting lift stand with a pivoted multi-lever lift assembly extending therefrom. The lift assembly has flexible towing straps engageable on the wheel axles of the equipment so as to pull the equipment up parallel inclined ramps to a level support surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,804 shows a jacking device for lawn mowing equipment having an equipment gripping jaw extending from a wheeled support assembly and engagement handles.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,557 is directed to a vehicle jack having a central vehicle engagement post that is adjustable. The post has a pair of support wheels and a lift handle extending therefrom.